Iowa football: Hawks land just one on PFF Big Ten Team of the Week

The Iowa football team landed just one player on Pro Football Focus’ Big Ten Team of the Week after their shutout performance of Northwestern.

Considering Saturday’s contest versus Northwestern at Ryan Field wasn’t exactly the prettiest game, it wasn’t too surprising to see a smaller representation of the Iowa football program on Pro Football Focus’ Big Ten Team of the Week, but I definitely wasn’t expecting just one.

Yet, that’s what we got.

Daviyon Nixon, a redshirt sophomore defensive tackle, continued to shine Saturday after considering a departure from the program this offseason.

Against Northwestern, he managed to double his career sack total by notching two sacks on Saturday alone. In addition to the two sacks, he finished with five total tackles for a defense that held the Wildcats to 202 yards and a sub-2 yard per carry average.

With the defensive line likely to be dealt a serious blow come this offseason with graduations and early declarations, Nixon’s outstanding play through the two-thirds of the season is incredibly encouraging for the 2020 defensive line.

While Nixon definitely deserved his inclusion on this list, I am surprised we didn’t see more Iowa football players making this week’s team on defense.

Senior cornerback Michael Ojemudia continued his stellar play this season with three tackles and two passes defended in the route of Northwestern and Geno Stone, per usual, was the linchpin of the defense as he led the team in tackles with seven and had one pass defended.

Unfortunately, Michigan’s defense locked down on Notre Dame and stole four of the eleven spots from this week.

Offensively, I feel like you could make a case for Tyrone Tracy despite hauling in just two catches, and as always, Tristan Wirfs and Alaric Jackson deserve some merit for their ability to protect Nate Stanley from edge rushers.

But, with routs of Notre Dame and Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State took six of the twelve spots on the roster, leaving little wiggle room for the rest of the Big Ten to get some recognition.